Fixable
by RositaLG
Summary: Fixable, adj.: There never was an instruction manual, so let's rely on intuition here. A LoversDiction-inspired birthday fic for JMHaughey.


**A/N: Sunsetdreamer has been writing a fic for JMHaughey that is based on the tweets of LoversDiction (It's called Breathing is Just a Rhythm. Go read it.) I saw one tweet in particular and started jumping up and down like "Write this one, write this one!" because my muse saw the Bones potential instantly. But then Sunsetdreamer consented to let me steal it away and I was all "alskdfja;bnaijg" because now there's pressure to do it properly. Sigh, the things I get myself into. Anyway, here's a little more LoversDiction for my favorite philosophical sociopath, JMHaughey. I wish you the happiest of birthdays, my dear!**

**OOOOO**

**fixable, adj.: There never was an instruction manual, so let's rely on intuition here.**

**OOOOO**

Booth stared at his partner across the table, chewing his food as he contemplated what she had just said.

'_I didn't think we were fixable either.'_

Her statement assumed that he had once thought that they were irreparable. He wracked his brain, trying to rewind through his memories to a time when they didn't share a life, a child, or even a house. He slowed the reel as he got closer to those dark months, the ones he never went back to anymore. It felt like a nightmare, one that he had awoken from quickly and painfully, vowing never to return to it again.

He recalled with excruciating precision the night on the Hoover steps, paralleled with the sight of her sitting in his car, drenched to the bone.

Yes, he thought, ashamed of himself; there had been a time (or two) when he had given up on them.

"So how did we fix it?" He asked out loud. She pondered his question seriously. "I mean, at one point, we both thought that we were broken beyond repair, right?" Brennan nodded succinctly. "Yet, here we are." He said as he swept his wine glass across their dining room table. "So somehow, we must have figured it out."

"You forgave me." She started. "You let me in again after I crushed your heart." He shook his head, disagreeing with her answer.

"You waited for me, even after I told you I was done waiting for you." He said as he thought about how long she had loved him without showing her hand.

"You gave me a reason to." She replied simply. Booth smiled softly at her answer. He thought about all of her job opportunities, her offers from other men, her truck loads of cash. She could have walked away from him a thousand times over.

"Still, you stayed when you could have run." He pointed out, breaking himself from his sentimental thoughts.

"I ran a little." She acknowledged with a guilty scrunch of her nose.

"Yeah, but you always came back." He brushed it off with a teasing smile. He watched as she looked down at her plate pensively.

"You saw me." She explained quietly before looking up at him again. He knew without a doubt that she was recalling the same moment he was: a sad moment shared in that barn a decade ago as he promised that he knew who she was. "… and then you saw me through." She added. His heart jumped into his throat at her vulnerable words and he reached out for her hand. She scooted to the front of her chair and gave it to him.

"I had to. Someone refused to believe in fate." He grinned, recalling the exact moment he realized his entire world was about to be turned upside down by this unconventional woman sitting in front of him. "I couldn't resist proving you wrong."

"Who says you have?" She arched an eyebrow as she took her hand back.

"Bones, think about all of those things that we just listed. All of the times we ran, or made the wrong choice, or hurt each other, and yet here we are. We're sitting at our kitchen table, eating dinner and listening to our baby girl sleeping peacefully through a baby monitor. I don't care what you say. Nobody's odds are that good. We nearly destroyed it too many times. We had to have a little help from the universe." She leaned back in her chair and he thought she actually might be on the ropes.

"None of that was fate." She said, shaking her head. "It was us, Booth, waking up every morning and making a choice to see each other, even when it felt impossible to be in the same room. It was restless nights spent pacing, wondering if we were doing the right thing; tears shed in anger, in sorrow, in grief." She kept going. "It was dedication and hard work and tough choices and nothing about it was easy." She looked him in the eye knowingly. "It wasn't fate, Booth. It was just us." She said simply. He shook his head slowly.

"No. It was you." He realized. "You did all of those things for us and we wouldn't be here if you hadn't." She blushed a little at the praise. "God, Bones. I'm the luckiest person on the planet."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration." She tsked. "Maybe in the city." A small smile cracked at the corner of her mouth and he chuckled.

"Come here." He beckoned, wanting to get his hands on her. She came over but reached for his hand instead.

"Take me upstairs." She requested.

"What about all of this?" He asked but he was already standing up.

"The dishes will still be there tomorrow." She promised with a naughty smile that made his stomach curl in anticipation. She sauntered past him and headed up the steps, her hips swaying as she went. Booth tilted his head to watch in appreciation.

"Eyes front, Soldier." Brennan commanded, catching him staring without even looking back.

"Yes ma'am." He saluted with a grin.


End file.
